Then and Now: Cabrini Blvd at West 181st Street, NYC

Cabrini Boulevard at W181st Street, Manhattan

Cabrini Boulevard at West 181st Street, NYC, in 1969 (Jeff March).

There are many hidden gems among New York City neighborhoods. They are quiet, have great views, and most importantly have stability through the decades. While the commercial areas of New York City often change rapidly, the residential areas often - not always - have more permanence to them. I found the above photograph taken by Jeff March in 1969 and was intrigued by how much it might have changed over the past fifty years. Now, fifty years may not mean much in the grand scope of history, and some European readers might laugh at the notion that anything would necessarily change in such a short time frame. However, in Manhattan, fifty years is a pretty good span of time in which entire blocks can be changed so much as to be virtually unrecognizable. So, I decided to do a comparison of Cabrini Boulevard at West 181st Street in NYC from 1969 to 2018.

Cabrini Boulevard at West 181st Street, NYC, taken in July 2018 (Google Street View).

The spot in Hudson Heights was pretty easy to find due to the George Washington Bridge looming in the background.  We are standing on West 181st Street just east of the intersection with Cabrini Boulevard, looking west. The original photographer was standing up the fairly steep hill on West 181st Street that runs down toward the Hudson River. He also apparently was using a telephoto lens to sharpen the bridge in the background and underexposed the photo to enhance the view of the bridge. Perspective is everything in actually getting the bridge tower into the shot, a few yards up the hill makes all the difference in whether or not you see it.

Cabrini Boulevard at West 181st Street, NYC, taken in July 2018 (Google Street View).

The hard part of reproducing the original view isn't finding the proper street corner, it's finding exactly where on West 181st Street the photographer was standing. The view directly above, a few dozen yards east of Cabrini Boulevard, appears to be close to the approximate spot. You can barely see the western arch of the George Washington Bridge in the distance, now partly hidden by trees. Since I can't get the exact angle used in 1969, we'll move around a bit and reconstruct the photo in bits and pieces. The original photo was pretty dark, giving an almost forbidding and claustrophobic feeling to the scene, but it's actually a quite bright and inviting area.

Cabrini Boulevard at West 181st Street, NYC, taken in July 2018 (Google Street View).

Putting aside the exact position of the bridge, the rest of the view is almost eerily unchanged. I almost expect to see the same people walking across the street fifty years later. The vehicles certainly are a lot smaller and less stylish. That's progress!

Cabrini Boulevard at West 181st Street, NYC, taken in July 2018 (Google Street View).

The building on the right with the distinctive windows and fire escapes is 100 Cabrini Boulevard. It was built in 1920, so already was a grizzled veteran fifty years ago in 1969. The George Washington Bridge actually is the newcomer in the scene, having been opened to traffic (upper level) in 1931 and completed (lower level) in 1962.

Cabrini Boulevard at West 181st Street, NYC, taken in July 2018 (Google Street View).

The buildings on the left (south) side of the street that form the somewhat intimidating wall in the 1969 photograph are connected. They comprise West Gate House at 860 and 870 West 181st Street. Both Nos. 860 and 870 were built in 1923. So, if you are looking for a nice pre-war coop apartment, Cabrini Boulevard and West 181st Street is a good place to begin your search. This obviously is a very stable neighborhood. Anyway, the real estate agents in the area undoubtedly could do a much better job of enhancing the charms of this particular neighborhood, so we'll leave it at that. It's just fun to see an area where someone could be transported fifty years into the future or past and not notice a single change.

I hope you enjoyed this entry in our "the more things change, the more they stay the same" series. Cabrini Boulevard at West 181st Street sure hasn't changed much over the years, and that's undoubtedly just how the residents there like it. Please visit some of our other pages in this series!

2019